Professor Doyle has assigned the first take-home exam of the semester.
By the end of 2006 Noor Ali-Hasan should be able to:
My photos of my drive from Southern California to Southern Illinois are finally online. Most of the photos aren’t annotated because it is really hard to annotate photos five months after taking them.
I probably could have done a better job of trimming the number of photos but 229 photos is certainly better than presenting the 500+ photos that I actually took.
And umm . . . don’t blame me if you get 3×5 stuck in your head.
Natalie the Jetta is back in action after three weeks of inactivity and a harrowing day at the Howard Cooper dealership on State Street. My car broke down right before I was leaving for Dubai and I didn’t get a chance to get it fixed before my trip. I called my free VW roadside assistance yesterday afternoon and got Nat towed to the dealership for service. The service department wasn’t open because yesterday was a holiday for some odd reason (since when do people take the 2nd off? Isn’t it always just New Year’s day? I guess people wanted an extra day off since New Year’s day fell on a Sunday?) so I filled out an after hours service request form and dropped off my key. It turned out that the battery went completely dead. They were able to recharge it but it still didn’t actually work (or maybe it worked but went dead again? I can’t remember what the service guy told me over the phone), which meant that I had a bad battery so I got a whole new battery for free (it was still under warranty). They also took care of a couple of recalls (passenger side seat heater switch and something about the rear door locks). I also had them do an oil change since it’s been about 4000 miles since the last time I got it changed (and that was in California before driving it back cross country).
I’m really glad to have my car back. Even though I don’t use it on a daily basis in Ann Arbor, I’m still glad to have it for the freedom and convenience that it offers. I also simply love this car (enough to give her a name) and really enjoy driving it.
OK, enough blogging about the car . . . now I’m off to Hiller’s and Target for some much needed grocery and household shopping.
We did some more shopping in a store that was across from the water/port. We couldn’t really figure out this store’s specialty since they seemed to sell everything . . . in bulk. Their display of fruits and nuts looked pretty cool.
Vimto is probably the best tasting fruit soda ever. It is also super sweet – to the point where you know that your teeth are rotting and you’re developing diabetes as you’re drinking it. I believe it is available in ethnic grocers in the U.S. but it seemed fitting to have a can while I was in Dubai. Other sodas that I tried in Dubai:
Diet Pepsi – the Diet Pepsi they sell in Dubai is NOT the same thing as its awesome American counterpart. In fact, I believe what they sell in Dubai is in fact Pepsi One and not Diet Pepsi. It tasted like Pepsi One and the can did say that it only had one calorie. I like Pepsi One every now and then but it is not a substitute for Diet Pepsi!
Coca Cola Light – this version of Diet Coke seems to taste better than the nasty stuff they sell here.
Mirinda – the orange soda didn’t taste as good as I remembered it did when I was a kid.
Zim Zim Diet Cola – this stuff is pretty nasty. It tastes flat and somewhat lemony. I believe it is made in Saudi Arabia or UAE.
Overall, food in Dubai was excellent. I had really good food that you can’t readily get in the U.S. – kibbee, shawarma, falafel (heart-shaped nonetheless), Afghani bread, and lots of other stuff that I can’t remember at the moment.
I’m back in Ann Arbor and I can’t sleep! Ah the joy of jet lag. It probably doesn’t help that I went to bed at 6 p.m., though. My flight got in to Detroit at 10:30 a.m. on Monday morning (Jan. 2nd) and by the time I cleared immigration, customs, etc. I was in Ann Arbor by 12:30 p.m.
Going through security/passport control in Dubai is kind of weird, convoluted, and didn’t really seem like it was safe at all. I got the sense that most of the airport employees didn’t really take it very seriously. The airport was packed (even though I was leaving on a 1:30 a.m. flight). A public service campaign should be implemented in Dubai about standing in lines (i.e. no chuffing, don’t cut) and body odor (deodorant is your friend). I had some guy blatantly cut in front of me in the security line and a family that was standing behind me in line at the KLM ticket counter also tried to cut in front of me. Are you really that late that you can’t wait a few minutes after you’ve been standing in line for twenty minutes?
After clearing security in Dubai, I shopped at the Dubai Duty Free, which was awesome. Local goods and souvenirs were very reasonably priced but brand-name stuff (i.e. DKNY sunglasses) were super expensive. Overall, the Dubai airport is very nice and clean and compares to some of the nicer airports in the U.S.
The first leg of the flight (Dubai to Amsterdam) sucked. The flight was full and I was stuck in a middle seat next to a guy who smelled like he had bathed in gasoline. Seriously, this guy smelled like a gas station. He seemed to enjoy the flight since he slept the whole time, which made me hate him even more. Throughout the flight, I wished I could speak Dutch. There was an older couple in front of me who seemed to be getting a lot of attention from the flight attendants and I really wanted to know why and what the heck they were talking about! I kept thinking that maybe they were famous or important but then why would they be sitting in coach?
My two hour layover in Amsterdam was fun (not). They couldn’t print my boarding pass in Dubai for the Amsterdam/Detroit leg of my trip so I had to get one at a transit desk in Amsterdam. Figuring out which transit desk I needed to go to was kind of convoluted because the transit monitors didn’t actually list the transit desk number for my flight (or for most flights for that matter). They did list the gate number so I decided to go to the gate. On the way to the gate, I ended up finding the KLM transit desk. I couldn’t get a seat assignment at the transit desk since the flight was overbooked so I was on a “waiting list” (the Dutch euphemism for standby) but the agent seemed optimistic since a lot of people hadn’t checked in yet (I think one of the connecting flights was late). The gate agent then asked me to describe my bags so that they could transfer them to Detroit. I don’t know but it seems like they should have a better system to transfer luggage than having people describe it to them. It seemed way too analog and didn’t really instill in me much confidence that my luggage would actually make it to Detroit.
After checking in, I went to the gate to clear security. I felt like my security screening was rather excessive. When I described the questioning to my sister, she seemed to think that it was standard procedure, though. I got asked the standard questions (How long were you in Dubai? Did you leave the UAE during your time there? What was the purpose of your visit? Did anyone help you pack your bags?) along with several that I found invasive (What does your brother do in Dubai? Where does he work? How long has he lived there? Where does the rest of your family live? Why didn’t the rest of your family travel with you? Why are you flying to Detroit? Why did you fly KLM/Northwest?). Maybe these kind of questions are standard practice in Amsterdam but I couldn’t help but feel like I was being interrogated . . . especially when upon entering the U.S., I only got asked two questions (how long were you in Dubai? Why were you there?) and quickly passed through security/immigration.
After clearing Dutch security, the gate agent was nice enough to give me an exit row aisle seat, which made the second leg of my trip considerably better than the first. I have noticed that the KLM agents and flight attendants are super friendly and helpful, far more than their Northwest counterparts.
Even though I had a great seat, the second trip was really long and exhausting. I ended up spending most of my time playing with the video on demand system. I watched Finding Nemo and Proof, both very good movies that I hadn’t seen before. I also spent way too much time playing Bejeweled and somehow managed to get to level ten. I actually could have gone even further but we had to land so I had to stop playing.
Finding my bags in Detroit took forever. They had luggage from my flight arriving at two baggage carousels so it was really hard to keep an eye on both. After my Dutch security screening and being on standby, I was really worried that my bags wouldn’t make it from Amsterdam but they did. My cab ride to Ann Arbor was pretty cheap since I ended up sharing it with another UM student who was also waiting at the taxi counter.
My flight leaves at 1:30 a.m. Dubai local time. It is about 5:30 p.m. now and I’m spending my last few hours in Dubai with my nieces, brother, and sister-in-law. My niece Sara, who will be four in April, has an exam tomorrow . . . . she’s only in kindergarten! It’s been really fun watching her cramming for the exam, though. She has to be able to count from 1 to 20, recognize the first few letters in the Arabic alphabet, recognize different colors and shapes, memorize some Koranic verses, and answer some questions about herself in both Arabic and English (i.e. what’s your name? where do you go to school? how old are you? and about ten more questions along the same lines). I think it’s ridiculous that an almost four year old has an exam that she has to study for. I think she’ll do fine with the English stuff but the Arabic stuff is really tough for her. Hopefully, she’ll pass and won’t have to repeat kindergarten.
I still have a bunch more photos to upload of what I’ve done during the past few days in Dubai. I’ll upload them when I get back to Ann Arbor. I think I’m going to go finish up packing, spend more time with my nieces, and then watch my cousin Walid on Star Academy.
I’ll be back in Ann Arbor Monday afternoon. Dubai has been a lot of fun and I’m really going to miss my nieces, brother, and sister-in-law. But, I’m ready to get back to my life, my apartment, and finishing up all of the stuff that I didn’t get a chance to do before I left.
One thing that has kept us rather entertained and amused in the past week has been watching my cousin perform on an Arab reality TV show called Star Academy. The show initially started in France but this year marks the third season for the Arab version. The show is similar to American Idol in that they start out with a bunch of people at the beginning of the season, kickoff someone every week, and then one person at the end wins a record contract. Unlike American Idol, the contestants (referred to as “students” on Star Academy because they take lots of classes at the “Academy”) live together and a one-hour highlights show is broadcast every night (actually, there is one channel that we don’t have that broadcasts what they’re doing 24/7). Every Friday night, the students perform during a show similar to American Idol. Every week, the teachers at the Academy select three students whom they think have not been doing well. Similar to American Idol, the audience votes to save one of the students. The person with the most votes is saved. The other students on the show then publicly vote to determine who stays in the Academy that week. To top things off, every week the teachers select the top 5 students. The new season started a week ago and my cousin was selected the number one student for the first week.
This whole thing has been pretty surreal. I don’t really know him that well as an adult but we actually grew up together in Kuwait. I used to play with him and my other cousins every weekend.
So I guess he’s famous now! Crazy!
A couple of days ago, we visited some of my favorite cousins in Abu Dhabi, which is about an hour and half drive from Dubai. Abu Dhabi is remarkably different from Dubai. Even though it didn’t take my breath away or anything, I found it a bit more interesting than Dubai. It felt more like a real city.
It was also cool to finally get to visit Abu Dhabi after spending a childhood watching Garfield tell Nermal that he’s sending him to Abu Dhabi. And for the record, here’s that Abu Dhabi song that Garfield used to always sing (thanks IMDB!):
Abu Dhabi, it’s far away / Abu Dhabi, that’s where you’ll stay / Abu Dhabi, the place to be / For any kitten who’s annoying me, yeah! / Abu Dhabi, it’s off the track / Abu Dhabi, now don’t come back / Abu Dhabi, it’s quite a thrill / For any kitten who can make me ill! / Now some take a train / And some take a plane / But I am sending you / Not on a boat / Or even by goat / But in a box marked “Postage Due.” / Abu Dhabi, you’re what they lack / Abu Dhabi, now you’re all packed / Abu Dhabi, a far commute / For any kitten who is too darn cute!
